The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
Optimize freight broker operations by fixing payment workflows in Q1. Streamline carrier pay before capacity shifts compress your margins.
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine brand loses 378,000 tins in a cargo theft. Plus: produce rates reset, diesel climbs, and a bill that could pull hundreds of thousands of drivers off the road.
Plus, Standard Forwarding's big rebrand, J.B. Hunt focuses on intermodal mix amid muted market, DOT ends NY congestion tolls, and more.
TGIF. Nikola’s long-troubled hydrogen truck ambitions have officially run out of road, with Hyzon Motors following a similar path. Today's feature covers the shutdowns and what it means for hydrogen trucking.
Plus:
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🐔 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT
🚛 Standard Forwarding Freight Rebrands with New Leadership After Acquisition. Standard Forwarding, a 91-year-old Midwest LTL trucking company, has been rebranded as Standard Forwarding Freight following its sale by DHL to Sakeem Holdings on January 1, 2025. (The sale was publicly announced on February 18, 2025.) Operating 14 terminals across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, the company aims to simplify shipping with a focus on speed and reliability. Led by President Tim McKinstry, the revamped leadership team includes seven former executives from Yellow and Jack Cooper. “We know that customers want simplicity,” McKinstry said in a press release. “Our goal is to make shipping easy for our customers – through every step of the customer experience.”
🧐 J.B. Hunt Focuses on Intermodal Optimization. J.B. Hunt Transport Services is prioritizing efficiency by targeting the right “controllable” intermodal freight mix to minimize costs as market conditions remain soft. At the Barclays Industrial Select Conference, the company outlined strategies emphasizing balanced networks, improved asset utilization, and controlled freight selection. Despite record volumes in Q4, rising repositioning costs and lower revenue per load pressured margins. Management anticipates more clarity on 2025 pricing by mid-year as truck-to-rail conversions grow. While short-term challenges persist, J.B. Hunt sees long-term potential in shifting highway freight to railroads, supported by investments in capacity and an expanding dedicated trucking market.
🚩 Federal Overreach or Common Sense? DOT Halts NYC Congestion Tolls. The US Department of Transportation reversed New York City’s congestion pricing plan, a move lauded by trucking groups but condemned by city officials as “illegal federal overreach.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized the tolls, calling them “a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners,” while President Trump declared the program "dead." New York City Comptroller defended the plan, citing reduced traffic, improved transit, and economic growth, and vowed legal action. OOIDA President Todd Spencer applauded the decision, arguing, “Truckers often have very little control over their schedules, so this congestion pricing plan is particularly problematic for owner-operators and independent drivers.” The legal battle is ongoing.
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The long, winding road of Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA) has hit a dead end. Once valued at $30 billion, the embattled EV truck maker officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, bringing an abrupt close to a saga that started with sky-high promises and ended with a share price nosediving from $1,977 in 2020 to just $0.44 today.
So, what went wrong? And what does this mean for hydrogen-powered trucking?
2016: Nikola bursts onto the scene with bold claims about its hydrogen fuel-cell and battery-electric truck prototypes. Investors buy in fast.
June 2020: Nikola goes public via SPAC merger, briefly skyrocketing past a $30 billion valuation, overtaking Ford in market cap.
September 2020: A bombshell Hindenburg Research report accuses Nikola of fraudulent claims, including its infamous "rolling a truck downhill" stunt to fake a working hydrogen semi. Founder Trevor Milton resigns.
October 2022: Milton is convicted of securities fraud, further tanking Nikola’s credibility.
2023-2024: Nikola burns through cash, halts production multiple times, recalls its battery-electric trucks, and struggles to gain market traction despite shifting focus to hydrogen fuel cells.
February 2025: After failing to secure a buyer or additional funding, Nikola files for bankruptcy, planning to auction off its assets.
Similarly, Hyzon Motors, another hydrogen fuel-cell truck manufacturer, ceased operations on February 18, 2025.
Despite initial ambitions to produce 40,000 trucks by 2025, Hyzon faced financial difficulties, including an inability to secure additional funding and uncertainties surrounding government subsidies.
This week, Hyzon officially shut down, laying off its remaining employees and selling off whatever was left. Hydrogen trucking’s future just took another hit.
Not necessarily—but these failures aren’t helping. Hydrogen trucks were pitched as the clean alternative to diesel without the range issues of battery-electric trucks. But the reality?
With Nikola and Hyzon both out of the picture, hydrogen-powered trucking has never looked shakier. Now, all eyes are on legacy truck makers like Daimler and Volvo to see if hydrogen tech can still have a future or if this whole thing was just another hype train that ran out of fuel.
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🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB
📈 Arrive’s Freight Market Update. Arrive’s freight market data reveals that the industry has stabilized after an unstable end to 2024. Lower demand and adequate capacity have led to normal seasonal slowdowns in February, though truckload volumes remain below early 2024 levels.
📦 NTG's Transportation Update. NTG reports improving market trends with steady demand and softer capacity as shippers prioritize efficiency. Overall transportation service costs remain high year-over-year, though lower fuel and equipment costs have mitigated some of the impact.
⚖️ Driver Charged. William Kellam, 44, has been charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and exceeding safe speed for conditions following a tragic interstate crash that caused a 53-vehicle pileup, resulting in one fatality.
🚦 Bracing for Immigration Crackdowns. The trucking industry is preparing for stricter immigration enforcement, raising concerns over driver shortages, cross-border trucking, and potential supply chain disruptions due to ICE audits and raids.
📉 Walmart’s 2025 Outlook. Walmart posted strong 2024 earnings, but its 2025 forecast disappointed Wall Street, sending shares down 9%. Rising tariffs and cautious consumer spending could spell trouble.
🚚 TFI Struggles. TFI’s U.S. LTL operations saw profits drop as its operating ratio nears 100%. Meanwhile, the company plans to relocate headquarters to the U.S.
💰 Trimble’s Freight Win. Trimble’s transportation and logistics segment grew 6% YoY to $206M, with record bookings for Transporeon despite ongoing freight market challenges.
🔧 Truck Service Options. Truckers and fleets can now access Southern Tire Mart at Pilot through myMechanic, with 79 full-service locations providing maintenance and repairs. Congrats to our good friend, myMechanic’s own Alex Bezzubets, on this exciting partnership!
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER
FREIGHT HUMOR
The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine brand loses 378,000 tins in a cargo theft. Plus: produce rates reset, diesel climbs, and a bill that could pull hundreds of thousands of drivers off the road.
The Middle East crisis is already hitting carriers. Plus: Florida lost $3B in crops, flatbed rates posted a fifth straight weekly increase, a $5B brokerage was just acquired, and more.
Plus: autonomous trucking just raised $113M, California is fighting to keep 20,000 drivers, Arrive's 2026 truckload freight forecast, and more.
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